Air outlet device



April 4, 1944. F. J. KURTH ET AL ,3 5,

' AI'R OUTLET'DEVICE FiledMarh 27, 194:2

- Patented Apr. 4, 1944 AIR OUTLET DEVICE Franz J. Kurth and Friedrich Honerkamp, New

York, N. Y., assignors to Anemostat Corporation of America, New York, N.

oi Delaware Y., a. corporation Application March 27, 1942, Serial No. 436,514

Claims.

This invention relates to air outlet devices for the delivery of air from air supply ducts into rooms or other enclosures, and has particular reference to an improved air outlet device of the same general type and for the same general purposes as the air outlet devices illustrated, described and claimed in our prior application, Serial No. 401,662, filed July 9, 1941 now Patent No. 2,326,858.

As in the case of the air outlet devices illustrated, described and claimed .in our said prior application, our present air outlet devic comprises, generally speaking, an outermost, openended, hollow, flaring member to be-cozmected at its smaller or upper open end to an air supply duct, and a series of successively smaller, openended hollow, flaring members spaced inwardly from said outermost flaring member and also successively inwardl from one another to provide a plurality of open-ended flaring air passageways. Moreover, said series of flaring members are mounted for unitary rotation relative to said outermost flaring member to dispose either the smaller or the larger ends of said passageways upwardly to receive air supplied to the outermost flaring member through the smaller or upper end thereof, whereby, in the flrst instance, fresh or treated supplied air for cooling, ventilating or air conditioning purposes expands and has its velocity reduced in flowing through said flaring passage-= ways and thereby is delivered from the device in diiiused, substantially draftless form and whereby, in the second instance, warm supplied air for heating purposes is delivered from the device more or less directly downwardly so as to reach a low level in-the room or other enclosure and thus eflectively accomplish its intended purpose.

In connection with air outlet devices as illustrated, described and claimed in our aforesaid prior application, it has been found that, regardless of the amounts of flare of the flaring members for most effective diffusion of fresh or treated air for cooling, ventilating or air conditioning purposes when said members have their smaller ends disposed upwardly, they usually act, when their smaller ends are disposed downwardly, to direct warm air for heating purposes downwardly with too great a blast eifect. Accordingly. while the general objects of our present invention are the same as the objects of the invention constituting the subject-matter of our aforesaid prior application, the special object of our present invention, as distinguished from the invention of our aforesaid prior application, is to provide an air outlet device of the character stated embodying a construction whereby the flaring members may have any desired amounts of flare for most eflective difiusion of fresh or treated air for cooling, ventilating or air conditioning purposes in any particular instance, and whereby, regardless of the amounts of their flare for most effective fresh or treated air diffusion purposes, the device is effective, when the smaller ends of its rotatable flaring members are disposed downwardly, to deliver warm air for heating purposes without too great a blast eflect and in a desired manner to cause it most effectively to serve its room or enclosure heating purpose without causing discomfort to occupants of the room or enclosure. 1

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in an air outlet device of the gen eral character stated embodying the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a central, vertical section through an air outlet device constructed in accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention and showing the rotatable flaring members positioned with their smaller for air diffusion purposes.

Figure '2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the rotatable flaring members positioned with their smaller ends disposed downwardly for deliv-- ery of warm air from the device in more or less blast form; and I Figure 3 is a detail view illustrating an alternative feature of the invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, Hi designates an open-ended, hollow, flaring member to be connected in any suitable manner at its smaller or upper open end to an air supply duct (not shown) and II designates a horizontal shaft extending diametrically across the largeror lower open end of said member and mounted for rotation in any suitable manner as, for example, in suitable bearings I2 carried by opposite sides of said member I 0 at or near the said lower end thereof.

Suitably fixed to the shaft II for rotation therewith as a unit is a seriesof successively smaller, open-ended, hollow, flaring members l3 which are spaced successively inwardly of one another to provide therebetween a series of flaring air passageways a.

The smaller end of the larger or outermost of ends disposed upwardly 2 the series of flaring members I3 is of such a diameter, and is located with respect to the shaft II, so that when said shaft is rotated to a position to dispose the smaller ends of said members I3 upwardly, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the said smaller end of the larger or outermost of said members I3 is spaced inwardly from the member l0. Accordingly, when the members I3 have their smaller ends disposed upwardly, an air passageway a is defined between the member III and the said outermost of the series of members I3. Therefore, under such condition, some of the air supplied to the member ID through the smaller or upper end thereof flows through said passageway a and is deflected laterally outward from the device by the said larger or outermost of the flaring members I3, while the remainder of the supplied air flows through the downwardly diverging passageways a and is deflected more or less outwardly by the remaining flaring members I3, at the same time expanding in said passageways a and a and having its velocity reduced whereby it is delivered from the device in diffused form. Onthe other hand, the larger end of the said larger or outermost of the series of members I3 is of such a diameter, and is spaced such a distance from the shaft II, that when said shaft is rotated to a position to dispose the larger ends of said members I3 upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the larger end of the said larger or outermost of said members either contacts with or is disposed closely adjacent to the inner face of the member III. Therefore under such condition, air supplied to the member I through its smaller or upper open end is required to flow through the passageways a between the members I3 and is directed inwardly by said members I3 due to their downward convergence when their larger ends are disposed upwardly.

In practice it has been found that, regardless of the amounts of flare of the members I3 to most effectively diffuse fresh or treated air for room cooling, ventilating or air conditioning purposes when said members are disposed with their smaller ends upwardly as shown in Fig. 1, they usually act, when they are disposed with their smaller ends downwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, to direct warm air for heating purposes downwardly with too great a blast effect to permit the warm air effectively to accomplish its purpose without causing discomfort to occupants of the room unless the said smaller end portions of said members have provision to intercept air flowing from the passageways a and to deflect it relatively outwardly. Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, the members I3 include at their smaller ends air intercepting and deflecting extensions I! of suitable form so that when said members I3 have their smaller ends disposed downwardly, said extensions act on the air as it is about to leave the passageways a to intercept same and to deflect it either directly downwardly or downwardly and to a certain extent outwardly, whereby its tendency to follow its original direction of flow through the passageways a and to issue from the device in blast form is avoided or at least is reduced to such an extent that it is caused best to serve its intended purpose.

In the present instance the extensions I4 are illustrated as including cylindrical portions I4 1 having flared free end portions M to direct the air outwardly. Obviously, however, the cylindrical portions I4 may be used if desired without 76 flared free end portions, or flared portions such as the flared portions I l may be used if desired to the exclusion of cylindrical portions such as the cylindrical portions I4. In other words, the members I3 may simply be provided with cylindrical necks such as the necks I4 or they may be of double frustro-conical or equivalent form with the smaller ends of its respective frustroconical or equivalent portions directly connected with each other. In any event, the important difference between the members I3 of the present device and the corresponding mmbers of the device of our aforesaid prior application is that the members I3 of the present device are provided at their smaller ends with air intercepting and deflecting means to insure that when said members have their smaller ends disposed downwardly, warm air for heating purposes is delivered from the device practically without blast effect and yet a suficient distance either directly downwardly or downwardly and outwardly from the device to cause it to accomplish its desired purpose. Of course, the velocity of the supplied air, the distance the device is located above the floor of a room or other enclosure and other factors must be considered in order to determine the proper form of the extensions II, but in any given instance said extensions may be of proper form in consideration of the factors involved to insure delivery of warm air for heating purposes from the device in a manner best to accomplish the heating purpose and without causing discomfort to occupants of the room or other enclosure into which the warm air is delivered. For example, if the distance from the device to the floor of the room or other enclosure is great, air deflecting extensions such as the cylindrical extensions I4 may be used without flaring free end portions such as the flaring portions I4". On the otherhand, if the distance from the device to the floor of the room or hclosure is not so great, flaring deflecting portions such as the portions M may be used either at the free ends of cylindrical or equivalent neck portions such as the neck portions H or such portions I l may be directly connected at their smaller ends to the smaller ends of the members I3.

When the members I3 have their smaller ends disposed upwardly they serve to deflect supplied air downwardly and outwardly, and when they have their smaller ends disposed downwardly they serve to deflect supplied air downwardly and inwardly. Therefore, the invention resides essentially in the provision of air intercepting and deflecting means at the smaller ends of said members I3 so that when said members have their smaller ends disposed downwardly the air as it leaves the passageways a is prevented from continuing in the same downward and inward direction as during its flow through said passageways and is deflected either downwardly or downwardly and outwardly to a greater or lesser extent than it is deflected downwardly and outwardly by the members I3 when said members have their smaller ends disposed upwardly, depending upon circumstances in particular instances. In short, the members I3 include air deflecting portions at both ends thereof, but usually these portions aredifierent from each other in one way or another so that when said members have their smaller ends disposed downwardly the supplied air is caused to flow more directly downwardly and to a lesser extent outwardly than when said members have their smaller ends disposed upwardly.

assumes Obviously, the essential diflerence in the air deflecting end portions 01' the members it may be obtained in diiierent ways. For example. cylindrical or equivalent neck portions such as the neck portions H may, as aforesaid, be used to the exclusion of flared portions such as the flared portions it On the other hand, if flared portions such as the flared portions l4 are used, either in conjunction with or to the exclusion of neck portions such as the neck portions l4, such flared portions N may have lesser amounts of flare than the members [3 and may be of any suitable length either the same as or different from the lengths of the members i3, or, alternatively, such portions l4 may have the same or even greater amounts of flare as the members i3 and may be either shorter or longer than said members l3 depending, as aforesaid, upon circumstances in particular instances.

Obviously, the flaring members l and I3 may be of straight-wall, frustro-conical form as shown or of any other generally equivalent form. Moreover, any suitable means may be employed to rotate the shaft ii to reverse the members l3 and likewise any suitable means may be employed to hold said members IS in either of their two operative positions. Furthermore, the air deflecting portions i4 may be provided either as fixed parts of the members i3 or as parts separate from said members and may be detachably connected thereto in any suitable manner so as to be interchangeable with similar but specifically diiferent portions to obtain best results in any given instance. For example. the portions M may be removably, replaceably mounted on the necks M as by means of bayonet joints I 5 as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

1. An air outlet device comprising an openended hollow flaring member for connection at its smaller or upper open end to an air supply" duct. a series of ,successivelyfsmaller open-ended hollow flaring members spaced inwardly from said first mentioned flaringmember and from each other to provide a series of flaring air passageways therebetween, pivot means having a fixed location with respect to said first mentioned member and mounting said series of flaring members for rotation to dispose either the smaller or the larger ends of said passageways upwardly in receiving relationship to air supplied to said first mentioned flaring member through the smaller or upper end thereof. and air deflecting means at the smallerends of the flaring members of said series effective, when saidseries of flaring members have their smaller ends disposed downwardly. to intercept air flowing downwardly and inwardly through said passageways and to deflect it out ardly relative to its direction of flow through said passageways.

2. An air outlet device comprising an openi sageways therebetween,

hollow flaring members. spaced inwardly from said first mentioned flaring member and 1mm each other to provide a series of flaring air paspivot means having a flxed location with respect to said flrst mentioned member and mounting said series of flaring members for rotation to dispose either the smaller or the larger ends of said passageways upwardly in receiving relationship to air supplied to said first mentioned flaring member through the smaller or upper end thereof, and substantially cylindrical extensions at the smaller ends of the flaring members of said series efl'ective, when said series of flaring members have their smaller ends disposed downwardly, to intercept air flowing downwardly and inwardly through said passageways and to deflect it outwardly relative to its direction of flow through said passageways;

3. An air outlet device comprising an openended hollow flaring member for connection at its smaller or upper open end to an air supply duct, a series of successively smaller open-ended hollow flaring members spaced inwardly from said first mentioned flaring member and from each other to provide a series of flaring air passageways therebetween, pivot means having a fixed location with respect to said first mentioned member and mounting said series of flaring members for rotation to dispose either the smaller or the larger ends of said passageways upwardly in receiving relationship to air supplied to said first mentioned flaring member through the smaller or upper end thereof, and flared extensions at the smaller ends of the flaring members of said series eflective, when said series of flaring members have their smaller ends disposed downwardly, to intercept air flowing downwardly through said passageways and to deflect it outwardly relative to the vertical axis of the device.

4. An air outlet device as set forth in claim 3 in wh ch the flared extensions at the smaller ends of the series of flaring members have lesser amounts of flare than said member, respectively.

5. An air outlet device as set forth'in'claim 3 in which the flared extensions at the smaller ends of the series of flaring members are of lesser length than said flaring members, respectively. I V

6. An air outlet device as set forth in'clalm 2 including flared extensions at the free ends of the cylindrical extensions.

7. An a r outlet device as set forth in claim 1 in w ich t e air deflecting means at the smaller ends of the flar ng members of the rotatable Y flare of said flaring members.

9. An airoutlet device as set forth in claim 3 in which the lengths of the flared extensions at the smaller ends of the series of flaring members FRANZ J, KURTH. FRIEDRICH HONERKAMP. 

